"I have one!"
After Minato's reminder, Rin immediately searched through her medical kit. She removed a small porcelain bottle, shook a blue pill into her palm, and carefully placed it in Ren's mouth.
The pill dissolved almost as soon as it touched his tongue.
Its taste was cool and intensely bitter, but a gentle warmth quickly spread through Ren's body. The hollow sensation inside his chakra network gradually weakened, and some color returned to his pale face.
Ren released a relieved breath.
"Thank you, Minato-sensei. You too, Rin."
Rin continued examining him with her medical chakra. "Don't talk too much. You need to rest."
Neither she nor Minato knew about the Victory Over Death mechanism. They naturally assumed that Ren's condition resulted from exhausting his chakra through the Death Mark, his clones, and that enormous Great Fireball.
From their perspective, his current weakness was entirely reasonable.
Ren had just fought and killed two chūnin-level enemies by himself. If he had emerged from that battle completely unharmed and full of energy, that would have been far more shocking.
Once Rin confirmed that Ren wasn't in immediate danger, Minato instructed her to help him to the side of the clearing.
Then Minato formed a seal.
Poof!
A shadow clone appeared beside him.
Minato's real body headed toward the creek to support Kakashi and Obito, while the shadow clone remained behind to investigate the battlefield.
The clone approached the charred crater and descended carefully.
The tall man's body had taken the Great Fireball Technique's full force. His clothing, equipment, and identifying marks had been reduced to ash, making it impossible to determine his origin through conventional means.
Minato crouched beside the remains.
He examined the thickness of the man's bones, old fractures, muscle attachments, and the scars that remained visible beneath the burns. Such details could reveal how someone had trained and which combat styles they commonly used.
After completing his inspection, Minato climbed out of the crater.
"His overall strength was above that of an ordinary chūnin and close to the level of a specialised jōnin," he said. "He had extensive close-combat training, used both swordsmanship and Earth Release, and possessed advanced tracking skills."
Ren listened from beneath a nearby tree.
"He was most likely an assassin trained by Sunagakure or Amegakure," Minato continued. "However, I can't rule out the possibility that he came from the Land of Lightning to gather intelligence in this region."
The enemy's true identity remained uncertain, but his skills were undeniable.
"A shinobi of this level would be difficult even for Kakashi to defeat," Minato said. He looked at Ren with genuine approval. "The fact that you killed him alone is remarkable."
Ren smiled faintly. "I was fortunate that my techniques caught him by surprise."
"Surprise alone wouldn't have been enough."
Minato's gaze shifted toward the scorched battlefield.
"The technique you used was called Death Mark, correct?"
"Yes."
"The concept is extremely interesting," Minato said. "It shares some similarities with a technique I'm currently developing, particularly the way you combine movement, misdirection, and attacks from multiple positions."
He paused before adding, "However, several parts could still be improved. Once this mission is complete, we should find time to discuss it properly and see how far you can develop it."
Ren's eyes immediately brightened.
"Thank you, Minato-sensei."
There was a meaningful difference between a jōnin who merely led a genin squad and someone who acted as a genuine teacher.
A squad leader was technically a superior officer. While they were expected to provide basic guidance, they weren't obligated to teach their students everything they knew.
How much effort they invested depended on their personality, sense of responsibility, and relationship with their students.
During the era of the future Konoha Twelve, Kakashi taught Chidori only to Sasuke, while Might Guy passed the Eight Gates on only to Rock Lee.
More than two months had passed since Ren's class graduated and the teams were assigned.
During that time, Minato had taught Team Minato training methods, battlefield awareness, and combat experience. However, he had yet to pass down any of his true signature abilities.
He hadn't taught them specialised ninjutsu, much less the Flying Thunder God Technique or the advanced fūinjutsu he had learned from Kushina.
That was understandable.
Powerful techniques couldn't be handed to children simply because they belonged to the same squad. A teacher needed time to understand a student's character, loyalty, determination, and capacity to use that power responsibly.
But now Minato had personally offered to help develop the Death Mark.
It wasn't the same as teaching the Flying Thunder God, but it was a positive sign. Minato was beginning to treat Ren as more than a subordinate—he was starting to accept him as a true student.
Ren needed to seize the opportunity.
If he continued proving himself, perhaps he could eventually convince Minato to teach him the Flying Thunder God and advanced sealing techniques.
While Ren was considering his future plans, Minato suddenly looked conflicted.
"There is one other matter…"
Ren noticed the strange hesitation in his voice. "What is it?"
Minato rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Death Mark isn't a bad name, but are you certain you don't want to call it the Substitution Rotation Super Absolute Phantom Multi-Stage Assassination Technique?"
His eyes gleamed with complete sincerity.
"It sounds much more imposing."
Ren stared at him.
He had no response.
The brief silence conveyed his rejection more clearly than words ever could.
---
Kakashi and Obito returned soon afterward.
They had been ambushed while collecting water from the creek. Their opponent specialised in genjutsu and had used the Sly Mind Affect Technique to separate and trap them the moment the attack began.
Despite possessing Uchiha blood, Obito hadn't noticed that anything was wrong.
Kakashi was the first to detect the illusion. He disrupted his chakra flow, broke free, and managed to release Obito before the enemy could kill either of them.
However, the hostile shinobi was extremely cautious.
The moment the illusion failed, the attacker abandoned the fight and fled. Even Minato arrived too late to intercept them, so he simply brought Kakashi and Obito back to the clearing.
Obito's first reaction upon returning was to search for Rin.
"Rin! Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," she assured him. "Ren was the one who exhausted himself."
Only after examining her several times did Obito finally relax.
Kakashi said nothing.
He walked toward the crater and studied the destruction in silence. His eye moved across the glasslike soil, scorched trees, and unrecognisable remains at the bottom.
Then he looked toward Ren, who was sitting beneath a tree with his eyes closed.
As an experienced fighter, Kakashi knew that Fire Release wasn't Minato's specialty. His teacher could use it, but it had never been his primary method of attack.
That meant the enormous crater had almost certainly been created by someone else.
Among everyone present, only one other person possessed Fire Release.
A complicated emotion flickered through Kakashi's usually lifeless eye.
Ren had become much stronger.
Possibly far stronger than Kakashi had realised.
Meanwhile, a completely different battle was taking place inside Ren's mind.
The Great Fireball Technique danced excitedly within the mental space, surrounded by joyful flames.
Great Fireball Technique: Ren, you were amazing! That attack was unbelievably satisfying. I've never felt such incredible pleasure before! Our relationship must have advanced beyond a mere Heart-to-Heart Connection!
Clone Technique immediately objected.
Clone Technique: What nonsense are you talking about? It was obviously the bond between us sisters that helped Little Ren so much. I've always said he could never manage without us.
Hatake Swordsmanship released an arrogant snort.
Hatake Swordsmanship: Hmph. That final slash was barely acceptable. It possessed perhaps one percent of my former glory.
Several other techniques began speaking at once, turning Ren's exhausted mind into a noisy marketplace.
Finally, Transformation Technique stepped forward in her role as the eldest sister.
Transformation Technique: Enough. Stop arguing and allow Little Ren to rest. Don't forget that he's only nine years old. After being tossed around by all of us for so long, he must be exhausted.
Ren's closed eyelid twitched.
Why did that statement sound so strange?
Fortunately, the conversation ended before the techniques could make the situation even more suspicious.
With Minato and Kakashi examining the battlefield and removing evidence of the confrontation, Ren leaned against a tree stump and allowed himself to rest.
About twenty minutes later, the clearing had been mostly cleaned.
The bodies had been inspected, useful equipment had been collected, and the traces left by Konoha's techniques had been concealed as much as possible.
Ren had also recovered enough chakra to travel.
Minato reorganised the group immediately.
Rin supported Ren, while Kakashi and Obito helped the three injured members of the border patrol. Minato remained at the rear, guarding against pursuit.
They couldn't stay any longer.
An enemy genjutsu specialist had escaped and might return with reinforcements. Becoming trapped in another prolonged battle while escorting wounded allies would be needlessly dangerous.
The group set out once more.
Kakashi led the way through the dark forest. Obito guarded the wounded patrol members from the side, while Rin walked beside Ren with one arm supporting his weight.
Minato followed behind them, his senses continuously scanning the night.
Moonlight filtered through the sparse canopy, stretching their shadows across the narrow path.
No one spoke.
The peaceful escort mission had ended. Every person in the group could feel that something more dangerous was unfolding along the border.
---
The following morning, they arrived at the Vermilion Bird Outpost.
It was smaller than Wildfire Outpost, but still substantial enough to house thirty or forty resident shinobi divided into roughly a dozen squads.
The guards recognised Minato and allowed the group inside immediately.
Once the wounded patrol members were transferred to the medical unit, their intelligence was delivered to the jōnin commanding the outpost.
The commander's expression became increasingly grim as he read the report.
His fingers tightened around the scroll, and a heavy silence settled over the room.
Even so, he maintained his composure and politely thanked Minato for escorting the patrol back alive.
"You arrived at the right time. If this intelligence had been delayed, several of our positions might have been caught completely unprepared."
Minato studied the man's face.
"What happened?" he asked. "Is the situation serious?"
The commanding jōnin hesitated.
His gaze briefly passed over the genin standing behind Minato. Whatever information the scroll contained was clearly sensitive.
Eventually, he released a slow breath and lowered his voice.
"We received an urgent report from the western border."
Everyone became silent.
"According to the latest intelligence, a Sunagakure unit used the disappearance of the Third Kazekage as justification to demand access to the Land of Fire. They claimed they needed to search our territory for evidence of his whereabouts."
The jōnin's expression darkened.
"Konoha refused their demand."
Minato's eyes narrowed.
The commander continued, each word heavier than the last.
"Sunagakure responded by crossing the border. Their forces have openly invaded the Land of Fire."
Rin inhaled sharply.
Obito's expression lost all trace of carelessness, while Kakashi's hand slowly tightened beside his body.
"Several Konoha border outposts have already been attacked," the commander said. "The fighting is still spreading, and casualties continue to rise."
The room fell deathly silent.
Ren had known this day was coming.
Yet hearing the words made the approaching future suddenly real.
Sunagakure had declared war.
The Third Shinobi World War had begun.